Do you believe people can hibernate?

The 45-year-old from southern Sweden was found on Friday, emaciated and too weak to utter more than a few words.

He was found not far from
the city of Umea in the north of Sweden by snowmobilers who thought they
had come across a car wreck until they dug their way to a window and
saw movement inside.

The man, who was laying in the back seat in a sleeping bag, said he had been in the car since December 19.

"Just incredible that he's
alive considering that he had no food, but also since it's been really
cold for some time after Christmas," a rescue team member told regional
daily Vasterbottens-Kuriren, which broke the news.

Ebbe Nyberg, duty officer
at the Umea police, said police saw no reason to doubt that the man had
been stuck in the car for a very long time.

"We would not make
something like this up. The rescue services were on site too and saw the
same as us," he told Vasterbottens-Kuriren.

Umea University
Hospital, where the man is recovering after being rescued by police and
a rescue team, said in a statement he was doing well considering the
circumstances.

Doctors at the hospital
said humans would normally be able to survive for about four weeks
without food. Besides eating snow, the man probably survived by going
into a dormant-like state, physician Stefan Branth told
Vasterbottens-Kuriren.

"A bit like a bear that
hibernates. Humans can do that," he said. "He probably had a body
temperature of around 31 degrees (Celsius) which the body adjusted to.
Due to the low temperature, not much energy was used up."

Why the man ended up under the snow in the forest remains unknown, police said.